Archives for August 2011

Denver's new Mayor, Michael Hancock, expected to sign Still sales agreement with Sotheby's next weekThe Denver City Council approved on Monday evening an agreement with Sotheby's for the marketing of four paintings by Clyfford Still from the estate of his widow, Patricia. The proceeds will fund an endowment for the Clyfford Still Museum, scheduled to open on Nov. 18. Were they … [Read more...] about Details (and text) of Clyfford Still Sales Agreement Between Denver, Sotheby’s

The Chinese FlagI won't summarize this for you. You have to read it.In perhaps his most brazen defiance of Chinese authorities yet, Ai Weiwei has authored a piece for Newsweek that vividly describes the Kafka-esque quality of his life in Beijing under the current Chinese regime and gives his insider's perspective on the plight of arrested dissidents. In detention for 81 days, … [Read more...] about Dangerous Defiance: Ai Weiwei’s Cri de Coeur in Newsweek

The Bennington Museum, closed today due to area flooding[My report on NYC-area museums is here.]Irene, although downgraded to a tropical storm, still wreaked havoc while working its way up north to New England. Particularly hard hit by devastating floods was Vermont, for which this was (as described by the Burlington Free Press) "the state's worst natural disaster since the … [Read more...] about How New England Museums Weathered Irene (plus an information clearinghouse)

My selective survey of NYC museums suggests that most are returning today, Monday, to regular visiting hours, now that Hurricane Irene has left town. One exception, though, is the Museum of Jewish Heritage, located at the tip of Lower Manhattan---an area that had been subject to the city's evacuation order. [UPDATE: The museum's spokesperson now tells me that it did open today, … [Read more...] about How NYC Museums Weathered Hurricane Irene (plus the show to calm your jitters) UPDATED

National Hurricane Service's map of what's now (on Sunday) Tropical Storm IreneNew York's cultural institutions, like the rest of us, hunkered down for Hurricane Irene this weekend. Abbie Fentress Swanson, interactive content producer of WNYC (New York's public radio station), had the most comprehensive rundown I've seen of the various cultural closures and cancelations that … [Read more...] about Hurricane on the Hudson: Irene Shutters NYC’s Cultural Institutions (and CultureGrrl)

Douglas Druick, Art Institute of Chicago's newly named president and director Here's an appointment to a museum directorship that I think we can all agree on: It's well deserved, on all counts. After a 26-year career of distinguished service to the Art Institute of Chicago, the scholarly, articulate and always welcoming Douglas Druick has been named as the new president … [Read more...] about Forever Young: Douglas Druick Gets Art Institute of Chicago’s Directorship

The Jewish Museum, New York In my Wednesday post taking issue with the naming of Claudia Gould to the directorship of the Jewish Museum, I observed: "Reasonable people can disagree with me." Now they have. (Even I am starting to disagree with me.) The responses sent by readers (some labeled, "Not for Publication") have, in fact, been so reasonable that they have made … [Read more...] about BlogBacks on the Jewish Museum’s Directorship (and my own rethinking)

Linda Dunne, acting director, American Folk Art Museum At the end of my narrated slideshow about the last day of the American Folk Art Museum in its W. 53rd Street building, I wistfully stated: We can only hope that there is a place in New York City for a museum of folk art. With the NY Times' recent publication of two articles about the museum's dire plight---one on … [Read more...] about Save the American Folk Art Museum! (plus former director’s planned keynote speech)

Claudia Gould, newly named director of the Jewish Museum, New York [NOTE: I've somewhat rethought my position on this, here.] Back in 1996, the Jewish Museum mounted an exhibition provocatively titled, "Too Jewish?" That New York museum has now named a new director, whom I would provocatively describe as, "Not Too Jewish." The last paragraph of Kate Taylor's NY … [Read more...] about Identity Crisis: Claudia Gould Gets Jewish Museum’s Top Spot

G. Wayne Clough in the Smithsonian Castle last January. How's Frederick Waugh's "Southwesterly Gale, St. Ives" doing?Few museum professionals are as qualified as Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough to evaluate today's East Coast earthquake, which CultureGrrl rode out in a Manhattan doctor's office. (My friend, the patient, was having a rocky ride for other reasons.) Unlike … [Read more...] about How Earthquake Engineer (and Smithsonian head) Wayne Clough Rode Out the “Shear Wave”

Bummed by the "bumster": A scene from "McQueen" The Metropolitan Museum of Art has lately been boasting about the boffo box office for its recently concluded fashion retrospective, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. Its exultant post-show press release announced that 661,509 attendees had made "McQueen" the eighth most popular show in the museum's history. I'll leave it to … [Read more...] about Dressed for Success: Will the Met’s “McQueen” Inspire Cheap Knockoffs?

I had previously written a different version of above headline, with a different name as the appointee. But this time, the designation of a new leader for Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, replacing long-time antiquities head Zahi Hawass, may actually stick.Nevine El-Aref of Al-Ahram reports: Prime Minister Essam Sharaf appointed Mohamed Abdel Fattah the new Secretary … [Read more...] about Hawass Replaced by Mohamed Abdel Fattah as Egypt’s Antiquities Head

Clyfford Still MuseumPhotograph by Jeremy BittermanThe in-construction Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, which received court approval in March to sell four of the artist's paintings that came from the estate of his wife, Patricia, announced last night that the City and County of Denver, which officially own the works, have engaged Sotheby's to get the deal done. It has not yet … [Read more...] about Still Chill: Sotheby’s to Help Clyfford Still Museum Monetize Four of the Artist’s Works

Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University, Atlanta Of the three American museums that were said to have received loans and gifts of Egyptian antiquities from collector Joseph Lewis II (who was recently indicted for allegedly "conspiring to smuggle Egyptian antiquities into the United States and conspiring to launder money in furtherance of smuggling"), only one----the … [Read more...] about Lewis Stew: Carlos Museum’s Belated, Inadequate Disclosure of 19 Gifts from Indicted Collector

Northwest view of the new MoMA Monster, truncated by architect Jean Nouvel Photos of plans by Lee Rosenbaum Almost two years after architect Jean Nouvel was sent back to the drawing board by New York's City Planning Commission and City Council to lop 200 feet off his MoMA Monster (reducing its height to 1,050 feet), the developer, Hines, has at last submitted new plans to … [Read more...] about It’s Ba-a-a-a-ck: Nouvel’s MoMA Monster Files Revised Plans with the City